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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Is Low Heart Rate An Indication of Fitness? Research has found that a high resting heart rate (RHR) may raise the risk for cardiovascular disease (includes heart disease and stroke) and even early death. For instance, a 2013 study in the journal ‘Heart’ reported that a high RHR was linked to lower physical fitness and higher blood pressure, body weight, and levels of circulating blood fats. The researchers also found that the higher a person’s RHR, the greater the risk of premature death: an RHR between 81 and 90 bpm (beats per minute) doubled the chance of death, while an RHR higher than 90 bpm tripled it. Does it mean that one should keep the RHR as low as possible? For most healthy relaxed adults, a normal RHR is between 60 and 100 bpm. When one’s RHR falls below 60 bpm, a condition called bradycardia occurs. It is a common heart rhythm disturbance frequently found in older adults aged above 65. There are exceptions, though. During deep sleep, a person’s RHR may fall below 60 bpm. Meanwhile, RHR below 60 is also normal for most young people, highly trained athletes, and people who exercise regularly. A heart rate that is too slow can cause insufficient blood flow to the brain. Symptoms of bradycardia include lack of energy, fatigue or feeling weak, dizziness or light-headedness (especially with exertion), confusion or memory problems, fainting (or near-fainting) spells, shortness of breath, chest pains or discomfort, weakness, and in extreme cases, cardiac arrest. When the RHR declines into 30s, blood can also pool in the heart chambers, causing congestive heart failure.
The two most common types of bradycardia are sinus
bradycardia and heart block. Sinus bradycardia starts in the sinus node. Sinus
node is the heart’s natural pacemaker that controls how quickly the top and
bottom heart chambers pump blood through the body. A slow heart rate might occur
because the sinus node discharges electrical impulses slower than is normal,
pauses or fails to discharge at a regular rate, discharges an electrical impulse
that is blocked before causing the atria to contract. In some people, the sinus
node problems result in alternating slow and fast heart rates, which is called
bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome.
Heart block occurs when the heart’s electrical impulses are partially or completely blocked as they travel from the atria of the heart to the ventricles. As not all of the electrical impulses are reaching the ventricles, the heart rate becomes slower than it is supposed to be. Heart blocks are classified based on the degree to which signals from the atria reach the heart's main pumping chambers (ventricles). Some possible causes for bradycardia may include heart tissue damage related to aging, heart attacks due to coronary artery disease, a complication of heart surgery, bacterial infection in the blood that attacks the heart, inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), congenital heart defects, diabetes or long-standing high blood pressure, low thyroid function, inflammatory disease, such as rheumatic fever or lupus, an electrolyte imbalance, too much potassium in the blood, repeated disruption of breathing during sleep (obstructive sleep apnea). Certain heart medications like beta blockers and antiarrhythmics can cause bradycardia as a side effect, too. Patients with bradycardia do have complications. Severe or prolonged bradycardia, if left untreated, can lead to heart failure, frequent fainting (syncope), chest pain (angina pectoris), low blood pressure (hypotension), high blood pressure (hypertension), sudden cardiac arrest or sudden death. While borderline or occasional bradycardia may not require treatment, severe or prolonged bradycardia can be treated in a few ways. For instance, if medication side effects are causing the slow heart rate, then the medication regimen should be adjusted or discontinued. In many cases, using a pacemaker can regulate the heart’s rhythm so that heart rate could be sped up as needed.
Lowering the risk of developing heart disease is
the most effective way to prevent bradycardia. For those who have heart disease,
it is important for them to monitor it and follow the treatment plan to lower
the risk of bradycardia. Date: April 18, 2019
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